2014 Cache Placing Slump

[knowschad]

I was talking to a geocaching friend on the phone this afternoon about a 5/5 cache he has been working on lately and asked him when he was gonna finish it so I could go after it. He said he abandoned the idea because he got tired of going back and forth with a specific reviewer (that I will not mention). He told me he is so tired of cache after cache getting denied because of what he says is the reviewer's preferences, or new-more restrictive guidelines. It made me think back to a meet and greet that we attended last year. While at the meet and greet several cachers were in a conversation about getting caches approved. Some of them that have some caches out already said they will not try to publish anymore caches in the area because they feel it is getting ridiculous to try to get a new cache approved; "like jumping through hoops" and getting nit picked about specific phrases used in their description that some specific reviewer just didn't like so they have to keep changing and altering. This may be partly to blame for the decline around here, at least by the local cachers anyway.

 

Before you bash me to bad for saying that I want to say that we own 30+ caches and I do not have a problem getting a new cache approved. Sure a few have been declined, but there has always been an explanation and a link to the specific guideline to go along with why it was not approved. Most of the time we just correct what the discrepancy was, or if we can't make it conform we just abandon it and move on. We have only been placing caches for a few years and though we are familiar with most of the guidelines we certainly are not experts and have no idea if the guidelines are becoming more restrictive. I do know we have attempted to place caches in similar areas as existing caches, or in a similar fashion as an existing cache and have been told our cache is against a guideline; which turns out it was.

 

So for those of you that have been around a while this question is for you. Are the guidelines and reviewers becoming more restrictive than they used to be? Can this be one reason of many to contribute to the decline?

 

Yup. Without a doubt. Even for those of us with proven track records. It is very discouraging. Good post... thanks for making it.

[knowschad]

(SNIP)

So for those of you that have been around a while this question is for you. Are the guidelines and reviewers becoming more restrictive than they used to be? Can this be one reason of many to contribute to the decline?

 

As geocaching gets older and more caches are placed, more of them, because of placement locations or types, are getting complaints--see the thread about caches being archived near power line towers for an example. Last year I also noticed that in a few state parks and similar areas all of the caches were archived due to a request from the park ranger or supervisor. Some of these areas didn't have specific rules for caches and lately have started requiring permits or just outright stating they don't allow them.

 

Maybe caching was just under the general radar until recently and it hit some kind of saturation point or level of awareness that it's harder to get permission. It's bound to happen...imagine a big superstore contacting Groundspeak and requesting LPCs be removed, or utility companies doing the same with caches in/on telephone poles...they might not notice a few, but thousands draw attention.

 

That said, I definitely noticed a decline in my new cache notifications last year. Our area is not saturated by any means, but if I look at the 2,000 or so in a radius around me, the bulk of them were hidden by really only a few cachers--the same names pop up over and over. Maybe the dedicated hiders have hit their maximum now that they've been doing it for 10-15 years and the newer folks hide none or only a couple. I'm trying to think of any new members nearby who have hidden more than three caches...maybe one guy?

 

There are many reasons for it. Much of it is, as you say, land managers that previously let things slide have since come up with their own set of rules and registration procedures. Some of it is because of stricter and more limiting interpretations of the guidelines, particularily (IMO) by the newer reviewers who probably err on the side of caution lest the veteran reviewers think poorly of their decisions. Some is due to stupid, thoughtless hides by other geocachers that have required stricter interpretations. I'm sure there are other reasons that I haven't mentioned, but the fact remains: it is getting tougher to place a hide, and particularly a creative or unusual hide.

[+The Kent Crew]

Must admit I tried to place one the other afternoon, but was told it was too close to another one, even though I'd checked on the cache checker map 'thingy'. I was told there was a puzzle cache that ended within the 500 foot rule, so that's gone by the wayside now. I've been and placed another this afternoon, hoping it will get passed this time. But yes, in short, I agree that rules are starting to ruin what was a brilliant hobby.

[Keystone]

The cache saturation guideline relative to hidden waypoints of puzzles, multicaches, etc. has not changed in its wording or enforcement over the past several years, so that wouldn't explain a "slump." The only relevant change was the mapping interface at the hide a cache stage, which was designed to help people spot open locations while also noting clearly that hidden waypoints aren't shown on the new planning map.

[+JBnW]

In the event anyone is still tracking this, or interested in it, here's an (almost) quarterly update of the publication-archive rate for Kansas (see post 27 above). The result of all this is that, 12 weeks into the year, the net change in total caches available in the State in 2015 is 0 (Zero, zip, zilch, nada), and has ranged from -38 to +10 on a weekly basis.

 

[+nikcap]

Just curious, how did cache placing go in 2015.

In New Jersey. it appears to have been on track with last year's stats.